The Grocery Store Down The Street
by PandaPuppet
Summary: Because of financial issues, Rima is forced to get a job by the end of the week. Such a thing is completely foreign to Rima, after all, she only got by with her words and charm. What she didn't expect, however, was to fall in love along the way. How cliche. "Did that man just ask me to shave his legs?" "Customer service, Rima-chan." "...I am ashamed of humanity." Rimahiko
1. The Start Of My Sad Life

_{ Thursday. Mashiro Residence, Rima's bedroom. 4:36 AM. }_

For a while now, my family has been dealing with financial issues. Nothing too major, we still have a house to sleep in and food to eat. The thing is, we're barely getting by.

I haven't been bothered by this. Sure, i knew about it, but my mother and father made extra precautions to make sure I wouldn't be involved with it. "Personal issues, Rima." My mother would say.

For an even longer time, since I was in 4th grade, my parents would spend their spare time barking at each other. No, not like actual dogs. That'd be a little weird, don't you think?

There's a reason for this too. They're always fighting over me, who's the better parent, who do I love more, who cares more- it's all about me! They used to keep me out of it, until the start of middle school. Slowly I was asked for my own opinion until eventually, I found myself being the cause for every fight.

I suppose I should be happy, now they have no free time to even glance at each other. Why?

Because they have to work, work, work, and work. It's a sad life, but I somehow preferred them fighting instead of them ignoring each other. Mother and father were practically ignoring me too, the most I got from them a week was an occasional "Hi, Rima."

After that they'd get back to work.

Am I selfish for craving attention from them? My friend, Amu, would argue no. Myself? Well, I already know the answer is yes.

I don't want to admit it, but I know it's true. All the fighting, ignoring, all of it has changed me too much. I used to be so happy. Not only that, but I'd actually care for other's happiness and try to make them laugh or smile.

To my eyes now, I can only laugh at how pathetic I used to be. I probably still am. The only thing I'm really capable of is hiding underneath this stupid, ice-cold, mask of mine. How do people even deal with someone like me?

I'm an idiot. Letting these dark thoughts get to me, just because I can't sleep. I have to smile. Not for me, but for Amu. She'd be worried sick if I didn't. So even if it's fake, I have to smile.

I unlock my iPhone for a moment, checking the time.

**4:53**

I groaned. It's only one or two hours until my alarm will go off and tell me to get ready for school. Might as well take a shower now... I thought to myself, forcing myself out of the bed into the cold air.

"Nevermind."

Falling back onto the mattress, I rolled my eyes at myself and went underneath the covers, forcing my eyes to close.

Might as well try to get some sleep, even if it'll be for 2 hours. Jesus Rima, you're an idiot.

I didn't even get drowsy that night.

_{ Thursday. Seiyo High, morning classes. 8:23 AM, two minutes until homeroom. }_

"Amu. Would you _please_ shut up. For the safety of my mental health."

I basically growled out, glaring at the rambling pinkette. I was not a morning person, in case you couldn't already tell. But then again, all she was doing was ranting on continually about that weird Tada chick.

Okay, he was a guy. But I'm pretty sure he's planning on a sex change, being a girl would suit the little "prince" so much better.

Amu blinked at me, before laughing awkwardly.

"Was I ranting again? Sorry, Rima-chan! It's just he's so charming...And the way he talked to me over the phone last night, his voice was like-"

Well, better tune her out before another headache takes over me.

I shook my head sadly at the love-struck girl, walking away without a word. Typical Amu, didn't even notice that she was the only one left in the hallway. Such a clutz, that girl is.

I opened the sliding door without a single glance to anyone in the room, simply walking over to my seat in the front. Short people problems. Now I can't even whisper to the person next to me, my homeroom teacher is a strict pumpkin.

Not in a good way, she literally resembles a pumpkin. Is that normal? Having horrible, red skin and being completely round. Not to mention her orange hair, either.

"Alright class, listen up! Today we'll be reviewing..." I tuned her out, as I did to Amu earlier. I know, I know, I should be paying attention because I'll need this in life or some crap like that. But honestly, this lady wouldn't give me an A even if I did get the correct answers.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Amu sneaking in, giving me her attempt at a "harsh" glare. (Those glares were more hilarious than intimidating, to be honest.)

I smiled sweetly at her, as she rolled her eyes and sat on her proper seat in the back. Amu used to sit up here with me, until we were "disrupting the class" with our loud laughter.

Miss Pumpkin here probably has a horrible love life. Scratch that, I'd be surprised if she even had one at all!

"Got that in your notes, Mashiro-san?" Speaking of said Pumpkin...Look who decided to interrupt my _brilliant_ thinking over here!

I looked coldly at her, rolling my eyes. Gasp! I disrespected a teacher! Oh no, I'm going to get in so much trouble!

I wouldn't be surprised if that's what the other lame people here were thinking.

"Of course, Miss-" I closed my mouth. Almost said Pumpkin. That wouldn't have ended well. "-I wrote them down the first time you taught this lesson."

Miss Pumpkin glared at me. Well, more like her face got extra red as she was about ready to throw a tantrum. "Sometimes, people don't understand it, Mashiro-san!"

How idiotic. Even someone as stupid as her should know that she can't win an argument against me!

"Which, is why you teach it in a different way. Reading over and over and over again from the book isn't going to make a difference, smart one." I replied with my regular monotone voice. I hope that'll be enough to shut the lady up, she was getting on my nerves.

Yup, seems to have done the trick. She only stomped her foot and turned around, calling on a student to read a couple paragraphs as she typed useless information on the computer.

Humanity disappoints me.

_{ Thursday. Late evening, Mashiro Residence. Living room, 4:25 PM. }_

"Do you understand, Rima-chan?" My mother asked me once again, after having to repeat her sentence another 4 times.

I only stared blankly at her, shaking my head in disbelief.

"I have to work? Like, _find a job_ work?"

The disbelief in my voice was to be expected, to be honest. How was I supposed to work when my family would never even let me go get the mail on my own? I wasn't even allowed to clean the house! (Stress relief for my mother, apparently.)

Mother nodded her head, continuously checking the time. "Listen, Rima-chan. I have to go to a meeting now,"

_Of course you do._

"-but I want you to check the newspaper or something. Just, find a part-time job that's not far from here and that pays well, okay?"

She tried to offer me a reassuring smile, but it was simply too obvious she was worried. Either about being late to the meeting or about me, I had no idea.

"I don't even know how to apply-!" Before I knew it, my mother had put on her heels and grabbed her purse, running out of the door. "Good luck, Rima-chan!"

I stared at her in shock. She really, really, expected me to actually find a job? I don't even think they post part-time jobs in the newspaper!

A minute passed, then two. I layed down on the couch and took out my iPhone, hitting my first button on speed dial.

"Oh! Hey Rima-chan, whatcha d-d-d-"

I could faintly hear some whispering and then a loud bang. What the fuck was Amu doing?

"Sorry about that! Now-Let go of me you pervert!"

My eyes widened. Was Amu being raped or something? Wait, no. She wouldn't try to be acting so casual if that was the case.

"Uhh...You know what Amu...I think my toilet is calling me or something. I'll just uhh..."

I paused, awkwardly laughing for the extra effect.

"...Go now. Bye Amu!"

"Wait, Rima-chan don't go-"

I could only hear Amu shriek before ending the call. That was...Awkward, I guess.

I frowned after remembering my current problem. "This shouldn't be that hard, right?" It was a poor attempt to cheer myself up, I know.

I grabbed the newspaper from the table and began to flip through it, scanning some things. Slowly, I felt myself become drowsy and falling back against the couch.

...I really should have slept last night.

* * *

**A/N: Hello lovely person! This is a pretty sad story so far, I know. But I have lots of fluff planned for the future! We all already know the main parings, but are there any side ones you readers may want? I still need to pair somebody up with Tadase, after all! **

**Anyways, more important stuff! This story, I guess, is only a really simple one to get me back onto my writing toes. As soon as I actually began to write, I began to have a bad Writer's Block. Not knowing what to do, I expected it to go away.**

**IT NEVER WENT AWAY.**

**This is just a story to get me back into writing, as I'm trying to get out of my 2 year long writers block. Anyways, this is getting long. Please review, I could use all the input I could get.**

**Hopefully I'll actually finish this story...**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shugo Chara or any other show, music, game, book (etc) that may be mentioned. This is a FANFICTION, and is only made for entertainment purposes. Thank you!**


	2. I Actually Got It?

_{ One week later, Sunday. Hinamori Residence, Amu's bedroom. 4:24 PM. }_

A week had passed since my mother told me the news. Yes, I managed to calm down and explain it to Amu the next day, and luckily for me she actually knew what to do.

Don't even ask, as I didn't even bother enough to ask her about the conversation on the phone. If you could call that a conversation.

The next two days her and I went job hunting, which was a...Interesting experience for me. First, we encountered a man with a koala on his shoulders. He was the manager of some tattoo place, so that was instantly a no.

Then we decided to go the local Mall. There were only two stores that were looking for workers, but one of them included some french chick who decided to put me in a dress as soon as I walked in. If you could call the thing a dress.

But now I have an excuse to never have a wedding! Yeah, the french chick worked for some italian dude who worked for some hawaiian girl who was the founder or something of the weird wedding store.

Hey, can't blame me for not understanding french!

The second store included a really hyper girl by the name of Yaya. Is that even a name?

She worked in a disney store that involved dressing up in animal costumes. I refused to even tell the Yaya girl that I wanted to apply after seeing the torture she had to go through to only greet us!

Yaya stumbled over a pair of twins, twice. A couple grown men asked her to sign their back, in which I almost barfed. Did I mention she was cosplaying as Sailor Moon? I could only call that insanity at it's finest form.

But you know, crazy people like her call the fun.

A couple more interviews with normal people, (Thank the Gods for that!) and I still hadn't found a job. Our last resort would be found in a grocery store that was down the street from my house, which was known for it's...Unique, workers.

I'm screwed, aren't I?

I finally moved my attention to focus on Amu once again, who had somehow changed the topic to bucket-head. Or "Tadase", as he prefers to be called. Pfft...He should just accept his true nature as a bucket-head, already!

"Uhh...Amu?"

I tired to interrupt her rambling on his oh-so-wonderful turtle, because apparently his turtle was just so swag that he became holy. I don't see how anyone can be more swaggalicious than me, though. Amu must have gone insane and mistaked the turtle for me.

...I think my lack of sleep is starting to get to me.

After another minute of her droning on, I decided to go about the harder way with this.

"Hinamori Amu!" I screeched, standing up and roughly pointing a finger at her. She stared wide-eyed at me, not knowing what to do. Oh poor, innocent Amu.

"One more word out of your mouth about bucket-head and I promise you won't have a head!"

It was a small threat, to be honest. But it's not like I could give Amu an actual threat, right? Right now she was pale and shaking, imagine what would happen if I really tried to make her scared.

A moment of silence and I lowered my hand, a sweet smile to my face. "Now, I'm applying for a job today. Can you help me get ready for it?" Amu was just too fun to tease! She'd get so scared so easily.

I admit to feeling a little bad for the pinkette. She was always the victim to teasing, naturally. Oh well, I suppose now wasn't really the time to worry about something like that.

Amu's face went red when she realized I was only teasing her. She pouted, like usual, and turned to face the other direction.

"R-Rima! Oh, whatever. I don't have time to deal with you." There goes her "Cool N' Spicy!" character, haven't seen from her in a while.

"The main problem is that you only have 30 minutes to get ready for the job application!" Amu finished. I automatically paled, having forgotten about that little detail.

"Fine." I muttered, sighing at my defeat. "Let's just get this over with and tell me what I need to say, again."

_{ Sunday. Willow's Stock, 3:12 PM. }_

"..." I stayed dead silent, staring at the woman in front of me as if she was crazy. Well, she probably was, if what I heard her say was true.

"You mean..." I slowly leaned back as if she were a huge bug in the corner of your room.

"...I _actually_ got the job?" The woman, Tei, smiled and nodded to me.

"Of course, silly! Stop looking at me like that, too. It's rude, you know?" She was acting completely casual about this, while my mind was stuffing questions in me.

Doesn't this usually take a couple days?

Is this her cruel idea of a joke?

Did I actually get the job?

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

"What do I do now...?" I asked, as if I were another one of those morons who couldn't get one thing done themselves.

Tei laughed. "Come here on Tuesday, we'll begin your training then!" Suddenly standing up, I watched as Tei grabbed her coat (at least I think it's hers...) and put her hair in a ponytail.

"Wait? Are you going?!" I asked, clearly alarmed. I stood up without another thought and grabbed her arm, and tried my hardest to give her the classic don't-leave-me-I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on look.

I'm pretty sure that's not even a look you can give to someone. Oh well.

Tei looked confused, but she continued to smile. "Yes, yes, yes! I'm going you silly, silly child!" With the way she's talking she has to be insane. I bet she escaped from a mental asylum!

"And now you leave, and come back on Tuesday. Okie-dokie?" Tei continued to smile cheerfully. Damn, this girl know's how to make someone feel uncomfortable.

"Y-Yeah...I mean...Okie-dokie?" I awkwardly replied, letting loose of her hand and backtracking to the door. "I'll be leaving now...It was a pleasure...To uhh...Meet you."

And with those words, I ran out of the what's-it's-face store and called Amu.

"How'd it go, Rima?" Amu wasn't busy this time around, good.

"I got the job!" Hey, I couldn't help the enthusiasm in my voice! I mean, sure I wasn't really excited...Okay maybe a bit, it was my first job.

We talked for a long time while I waited for my mother to pick me up.

Hopefully, things will go well. But with me? I seriously doubt it.

* * *

**A/N: Ohohohoho! Next chapter Rima will be meeting Nagihiko! What do you all think the relationship between the two will be like?**

**I think I'm starting to get the hang of writing again! But, still, doesn't mean I'm proud of it! Oh well ^^; Haha. I think I'll try to get a schedule going on, but in a week I'm going to Europe! Yay! So, no promises~! Thanks you for reading! Please review!**

**DISCLAIMER: See first chapter.**


	3. She-male, oh she-male Oh? She MALE!

_{ The Grocery Store Down The Street }_

"I hate my life."

This has got to be the thousandth time I've said that today. And for a good reason, too. At least, in my eyes it was a good enough reason.

Today was the dreaded day, Tuesday. While I had been overly-excited about it earlier, that all changed the moment I walked through the doors.

Now look at where I am! All I've been doing, for 2 fucking hours, was sitting. Let me repeat that.

_For two hours. All I did was sit. _

Tei was here too, but she was too busy attending to other customers. I honestly didn't even know what her position here was, but I'd rather not ask. Too tired to care at this point.

I asked earlier why I had to sit, and Tei only told me that my "teacher" had some family emergency and would be back soon.

Tei told me that half an hour ago. And look who's here? Only me and the creepy fish!

Well, no, there wasn't really a creepy fish in the room. It's actually rather cute for a goldfish-

That's besides the point! The point is that I'm done already.

The door opened, and I turned around to face a tall...A tall what? _Was that a girl or a boy?_ Uhh...

A tall she-male entered the room, a soft smile on his face.

I already didn't like him. What? It was too perfect and fake. If I'm able to see that by first glance, then obviously the she-male has been lying it's whole life! Probably another Saaya, maybe even worse.

At first, the option to glare was just too tempting. But after a single moment of thought, Rima chose to smile brightly and innocently at the she-male.

"Hello! Are you Fujisaki-san?" My voice was already too fake. It was too cute, too happy, too loveable. Does that describe me to you? Of course not, I thought so too.

Two could play this game.

The she-male instantly beamed at me, laughing in reply. "Yes, that would be me. I take it you're Mashiro Rima, then?"

Woah, woah, woah. Woah. Wait just a second.

Was that a male speaking to me?

I couldn't even try to hide my shock, as I suddenly stared wide-eyed and mouth gaped open at...She-male. I refuse to call it a he!

She-male tilted its head at me. "Are you okay, Rima-san?"

Oh God. This thing is moving way to fast at the non-existent relationship they have. Rima? Uhh, no thanks. You're only allowed to call me by my last name, but I'd prefer if you didn't even talk to me!

I decided to drop the sweet act. Sure, I could've kept at it...But that would just be boring, right?

Instantly, I sent the she-male one of my coldest glares. I resisted the urge to smirk when the thing's eyes widened, obviously surprised.

"No, I am _not_ okay, _Purple-head._" The venom in my voice could practically burn one's skin off if I really tried. Hmph...I should try that one day.

"I've been waiting here for two hours, just sitting." She-male was about to reply, but I cut the thing off before it could say any more.

"I was sitting for two hours, she-male!" I shouted angrily at him.

Now, now, calm down. I'm not always like this...But somehow the male- excuse me, she-male -was a humongous amount of fuel for my anger.

This would prove to be interesting, huh?

I roughly stood up, marching right past him. I looked back for a moment, looking at the speechless thing. "Tomorrow, 3:00 PM sharp. Meet me at the ice-cream place near here."

I raised my brow. "What? You need to repay you're rude-ness somehow, right? And I'm in the mood for ice cream. It's not rocket science, idiot."

And with those last words I walked off, knowing I'd receive another "late" lecture.

What did I just do?

* * *

**A/N: I'm very disappointed in myself for this chapter, but I won't let that get me down! This story will only be a really, sloppy, bad one to get me back on my feet! I need a beta or something ;;^;;**

**Wow, I sound pathetic. Oh well!**

**Note!: I never even had a part time job myself, so I'm just going to go about guessing for most (if not all!) if this.**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 1.**

**Please review! ^^; **

**Sorry if this chapter was confusing.**

**Also, I'm aware this is a shorter chapter. Forgive me! I'm trying to figure out a plot for another fanfiction. Except, you know, I'll actually try on it...**

Am I updating too fast? Too slow? Chapters too confusing? Too short, long? Tell me!


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